Patrick Hogan - ACO assigned this issue to City of Medford

Animal Control will continue to visit city parks to enforce dog waste ordinance. This issue has been submitted for reassignment in regards to trash barrels.

Mayor's Office assigned this issue to Brian - Commissioner of DPW

Good Morning Mr. Livingston,

Can you identify specifically what Parks you are speaking about? The Blue trash cans are pulled and put back out as earliest the weather and scheduling of field use is known. While the Blue Barrels are taken every park has at least two ornamental barrels for disposal.

Fields are Closed during the late fall months and winter do to No permitted activities at the athletic field areas being issued, which means not much activity. The other reason it is done, is do accessibility into the Parks with Snow we are unable to enter Parks to remove any barrels that residents fill whether with pet feces , household trash ( which is a common occurrence ) or the normal trash like beverage cups etc.

Tufts Park now has a Barrel at every backstop location , Tufts Pool Entrance , Tot Lot Entrance, Basketball Court , the Parking lot & one near the Blue Equipment Storage area that Softball uses by the Soccer field.

Thank You

Mike Nestor
City of Medford
Park Foreman

Mr Nestor,

Thank you for your reply. My main concern is dog waste. Dog owners have to walk their dogs every day, all year round. At Tufts Park, when the barrels are gone, the only ornamental barrels are located inside the tot lot and by the Curtis Tufts school. If a dog defacates far from the barrels, owners don't pick up. I see piles of dog waste all around the paved paths during those months, and far less when the blue barrels are present.

If even one barrel could be left out at a convenient location for pick up, perhaps by the rear parking lot near Morton Ave, it would go a long way to encourage the pick up and disposal of feces.

Separately, the placement of dog bag kiosks in parks would also be very helpful. Other surrounding communities provide them in all of their parks. I have found only one kiosk in Medford, in the heart of the Square, at the intersection of High St, Salem St, Forest Street and Riverside Ave. In my 13 years living here, I have never seen one dog walking anywhere near there! I will take this matter up with the Parks Dept.

Thank you
David Livingston

David,

I appreciate your understanding and will leave a barrel on a trial basis next Fall and Winter for those reasons. If for some reason it gets to be filled by household trash and people cleaning out their cars we will have to reevaluate the placement.

In regards to the Pet bags , I have met with Mayor Burke recently regarding certain park issues and installing more "pet waste" stations came up. The Parks Dept is currently evaluating the cost to install at all Parks if feasible or at least the ones where people walk their pets.

Regards

Mike Nestor
City of Medford
Park Dept

Mr Nestor,

Thank you for addressing this issue. A trial basis would be great. A couple years ago, a neighbor asked former city councilor Maiocco if he could get us one barrel placed there all year, which he did, and I don't think there were any issues. And the pick up schedule can be reduced in the slow months, of course.

The money for the pet waste stations could easily be raised from a small increase in the cost of dog licenses. It would make sense for dog owners to pay for this service. I'd be happy to chip in. I will suggest this to the Parks Dept., as well as the Board of Health and the Mayor's office.

Thank you
David Livingston

David

I'm in charge of the Park Dept.. The bags will be purchased by us and will work with residents in placement

Thanks again

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